‘Three Idiots’ was special for me because it gave me recognition as my name – Sharman Joshi

In your career, you have played characters of every color in many films like ‘Godmother’, ‘Style’, ‘Three Idiots’, ‘Golmaal’, but now you are rarely seen?

-I want to work as much as possible. Now I have got a lot of clarity regarding the roles, but sometimes there comes a period in the life of us actors when the work becomes a bit dull. Somewhere a project is being prepared for you and when the time comes, you get that work. However, recently you might have seen me in the web series ‘Kuffas’. I have also received an award for my role in Kaphas. Soon one of my films, Tisvin Manzil, will be shown on OTT. It is a thriller movie, it also stars Arjun Rampal and Bobby Deol. My role in this is quite interesting.

Why did you suddenly get attracted towards ‘mentalism’ from acting?

-Bhupesh Dave ji is my guru and mentor in the field of mentalism (a science in which a mentalist or psychiatrist tries to understand the problems going on within a human being through science and also treats them). I came into this field taking inspiration from him/her. I am going to present this show by doing jugalbandhi with him/her. Six years ago I went to see one of his/her shows. Watching that show, I was amazed at how they were dealing with the complexities of the human mind. We also discussed how I can use it in my acting. I was already interested in mentalism. During Covid, we decided that we will launch a show which will be India’s first mentalist show. We decided that we would design a show and perform it. I spent a lot of time with him/her and worked hard. When the show is ready to launch in theatres. I have dedicated the entire 3-4 years to this. Let me also make it clear that this is not magic. We initially gave it the tagline Let’s the Mind Game Begin, but then we renamed it Let’s the Magic Begin. In a way, it does magic with people’s minds.

What was the magical moment of your life?

-When I was young, I had decided that I will become an actor, if I don’t become an actor, then I will become a lawyer and if I can’t become a lawyer, I will definitely become a businessman. I was in college in those days and I asked for a script from my father (well-known theater artist Arvind Joshi). We rehearsed and prepared a play based on that script in college. I was the one who directed it. It was a comedy play named Ulti Ganga. As soon as the play started, people started laughing loudly. At first we thought that people were making fun of us and laughing, but later we realized that they were laughing at the comedy of our play. That was a magical moment of my life. That was a revolutionary moment in my life. It was a big thing for the play to get appreciation in that intercollegiate competition. Actually, Rishi Roy, son of Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi director Ashok Roy, was also present in that play. From there my journey into theater started.

Your father Arvind Joshi was a well-known Gujarati actor while your father-in-law Prem Chopra was a famous Bollywood villain. What did you learn from both?

-What I learned from dad is that he/she never went into the comfort zone regarding his/her work, he/she was always happy and enthusiastic about his/her work. he/she never compromised with his/her work. I learned my passion for art and craft from him/her. At times when his/her drama did not receive a good response, he/she never blamed the audience. he/she used to work harder on his/her drama. I remember, it was the initial phase of my theatre. It was a Gujarati drama and both my father and I were in it. My grandfather passed away during the staging of the same play. But dad worked in that play after performing the last rites of grandfather. That was very sad for me, because I was very close to my grandfather. But just imagine, how difficult it must have been for my father, but he/she did the show must go on and taught me too. I learned humility from father-in-law Prem Chopra ji. Despite working in the industry for 30-40 years, he/she did not lose his/her humility. They are still connected to the land.

What was the turning point of your career?

-There were many turning points in my life. One film after another. My first film Godmother won five National Awards. Director N Chandra saw that film and cast me for Style. Raju Hirani ji liked my work in style and later he/she chose me in 3 Idiots for this reason. Well, after that many films like Rang De Basanti, Golmaal etc. started. But not only for all of us but also for me, ‘3 Idiots’ was a very special film, because after this film, I got recognition as my name i.e. Sharman Joshi.